


Seeing Red

by totemwolfie



Category: Hellboy (Movies)
Genre: Attempted Rape, Blow Jobs, Demons, M/M, Nightmares, PTSD, Sex, Sexual Assault, Size Kink
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-29
Updated: 2018-12-06
Packaged: 2019-08-09 09:44:29
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 19,134
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16447463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/totemwolfie/pseuds/totemwolfie
Summary: Life at the B.P.R.D. has always been unpredictable and dangerous, but John finds himself dealing with threats from new agents at the Bureau and even from Hellboy himself.





	1. Accusations

**Author's Note:**

> This wasn't supposed to be something with chapters or much of a plot, but I just continued writing it, so here we are! I don't think this will be too long in the end, it was just too long to be a PWP and so... yeah. Sorry for the lack of information in the tags. At this moment this is very much a WIP that I'm just winging. Thanks for reading!
> 
> Also, did you see the poster for the new Hellboy movie? I feel so blessed.

“He’s broken-hearted,” John said from where he stood in the late Professor Bruttenholm’s office (which doubled as the Bureau’s occult library,) surrounded by books and artifacts that he knew next to nothing about, “I know he needs time, but he’s acting out and…I don’t know what to do.” John had only been back at the Bureau for a couple of weeks after his abrupt transfer to Antarctica. Just thinking about the cold and quiet made him shiver. He was still warming up; always wearing sweaters and fuzzy socks in the privacy of his room.

From the large aquarium the Ichthyo sapien hummed. Abe twisted through the water gracefully, plucking rotten eggs from where they were sinking. He ate one before answering, “Liz has left us before. But this time I feel it may be permanent. Hellboy doesn’t… know how to process this. He never has. They grew up together and she always saw beyond the demon to the man inside. He clings to that. It makes him… desperate for a connection.”

John ran his hand through his hair. It had been only a month after Moscow. Only a month since averting the apocalypse and pulling Hellboy from the brink of evil. At night he still dreamed of that, and woke in a cold sweat. When he had been in Antarctica, so removed from the rest of the world and honestly, pretty depressed about it, he hadn’t had time for the bad dreams. Now that he was back at the Bureau he had spent many nights awake at his desk, choosing to read and write reports instead of dealing with the dreams. 

“But he’ll be okay, won’t be?” he finally asked.

Abe shrugged as he drifted around. “Why don’t you ask him?”

“He’s made it clear that he doesn’t want to talk to me,” John muttered. When Manning had ordered him to return as Hellboy’s liaison, and Bruttenholm’s replacement (something he decided to keep secret,) the demon had growled at him and then ignored him. When he brought Hellboy his meals the demon wouldn’t even acknowledge him, and the one time he did, it was just to snap and say something cruel. John didn’t need the extra stress.

“He’s stubborn,” Abe agreed, “but, he has a big heart.”

“I’ll take your word on it,” John sighed. “You’re his friend, Abe, maybe just… I don’t know. But everyone is afraid they’ll set him off. And I… I thought after Moscow that…” Abruptly he turned away. “I have work to do.”

…

“So is this all you do now?” grumbled a rough voice from the doorway. John looked up, startled, as Hellboy crossed the office. As usual he was shirtless and wearing only tight leather pants. He was chewing on an unlit cigar and his yellow eyes were gleaming. Behind him his tail lashed, showing his irritation for the situation. He paused to check the aquarium but Abe was gone.

“Um,” he started, “It’s important that I study—“

“No,” growled Hellboy, “you spend all your time here in pop’s office. What, think you’re the new Professor, do ya?”

John’s eyebrows shot up to his hairline. Scarlet spread across his cheeks and neck. “No—that’s not it, Red.”

“Don’t make yourself at home,” the big red demon snapped, “because this ain’t your office. Why are you even here again?”

John could only watch, perplexed, as the demon stormed away without giving him a chance to respond. He looked down at the book he’d been reading and closed it a bit more roughly than he should have. Then he stood, gathered up all his books, and lugged then back to his room in the agent’s living quarters.

He was about to shut the door when a shape appeared in the doorway. He flinched, at first thinking it was Hellboy but saw no, it was a man. One of the new agents; what was his name again?

“Agent Myers,” the man greeted with an easy smile that seemed a bit off; more crude than genuine, “starting your own library?”

John scratched the back of his head. “No, no,” he quickly said, “just needed a more comfortable chair. Forgive me, I forgot… It’s Agent…?”

“Malone,” he said as he stepped into the room. “So you’re not just the Demon’s Keeper, huh?”

John frowned. “I’m his liaison,” he corrected.

“I heard you handled him real good in Moscow,” Agent Malone smirked. “Tell me, what qualifies you as a monster tamer?”

He was lost for words for a second. Just what was he implying? John wrinkled his nose and said, “I think you should go, Agent Malone.”

The man’s lips twitched. “If I said anything to offend, I apologize. I simply was inquiring how one managed to stop the apocalypse.”

John knew that that wasn’t it, the man gave off bad vibes and was clearly after something. “Then read the report,” he said as he stepped forward. For a moment it seemed like the other man wasn’t going to move, and John was getting ready to physically force him out, when a massive shadow stopped by the door.

Hellboy wrinkled his nose at the two. His eyes traveled over John’s face, which was showing obvious signs of irritation and distress, to the other man who was looking at him with a smirk.

“Myers,” he grunted, “something going on here? You’re late.”

John frowned before checking his watch. He was late with this evening’s meal. “Sorry Red. I’ll be right there.”

“I’ll let myself out,” Malone said as he looked at John, “and let you take care of your demon.”

“Just who the fuck are you?” Hellboy demanded, but the man walked by without another word. He turned his attention back to John, before he noticed all the books from the library and office.

Hellboy snapped his tail before he turned, stomping off. John watched him go, heart pounding in his throat. His attention and anxiety was split between Hellboy’s attitude and Malone, who obviously was up to something.

 _Or maybe I’m just being paranoid,_ he mused as he went to the kitchens for Hellboy’s meal. He wasn’t sleep well and it was starting to drag him down. He sometimes flinched when he saw a shadow or heard a strange noise. Sure, after the incident he had seen a therapist, had passed both his health and mental evaluations, and been released back into active duty after healing up. Now he just had scars and nightmares to remind him of what had happened.

John pushed the heavy cart to the vault door used to keep Hellboy inside when he was being particularly troublesome, but John didn’t think the demon had ventured off base since Liz had left. 

He dragged the door open before heading inside with the cart. The soft chorus of mewing cats greeted him. One would think that with so many cats the large living quarters would smell like cat piss and litter boxes, but it never did. It smelled simply like Hellboy; the body spray he used, his own heady musk, the spice of his cigars and smoke. John didn’t know how to describe it, all he knew was that it made him feel warm.

“Red?” he called as he stopped in the middle of the room. The bed was empty, the televisions were all on, but he didn’t see the demon. He stepped around cats, pausing to pet familiar ones that rubbed on his legs, and checked the weight room. No. He made his way to the bathroom. The door was open, the lights off. No Hellboy. 

John grunted in annoyance. “He made such a fuss and he’s not even here,” John complained to a sympathetic gray striped cat who mewed in response. John scooped the cat up, petting it as it purred and nuzzled into his suit jacket.

He walked slowly back to the door, taking his time because the cat was calming and he could feel his anxiety and stress melting away, until that is he turned a corner and came within inches of running into Hellboy’s wide chest.

“Oh—“ John sputtered, “There you are, Red.” 

Hellboy watched as John gently deposited the cat on the ground and then brushed fur off his jacket. He only grunted.

“I’d better get going and back to studying,” he said, trying to keep his words light. He didn’t want to fight with HB. They were… they had been friends. Whatever had upset the demon was his business, and John wanted to somehow get around that. They needed to get along. However Hellboy only watched him, refusing to move from where he took up most of the room in the hallway, and John had to press against the wall to get around him. That still didn’t stop them from brushing together.

“Whatever,” Hellboy answered as he turned and watched Myers as he left, carefully stepping around cats. 

John winced at the gruff dismissal and quickly left. It seemed like every time he thought he was getting through to Hellboy something happened to make the gap bigger. First he mistakenly tried to befriend Liz, whom Hellboy was not willing to share, and then Moscow, afterwards only to be fucking banished away from the Bureau; then it was him using the library and working in the Professor’s office. John didn’t want to be the next Professor, but Manning was insisting that because he was the last person the man has hired before death that he should take the job.

It was not something he wanted to do, and so far he hadn’t told Hellboy, because if he knew John was taking over…

He shook his head and wished he had smuggled out the cat. Instead, with anxiety spreading through him, he went back to his room and changed out of his suit for night and into sweats and a t-shirt. He grabbed the nearest book and sat down and started to read.

…

The next morning it was busy. John had meetings all day long and when he finally caught a break he went to the gym to workout some tension, only to find Hellboy there using the track. He stopped, a hot blush on his face, as he watched the demon jog. As usual he was shirtless and covered in sweat, which gleamed off every muscle, but he had traded his leather pants for a pair of sweats that had to be specially ordered. The demon was big, thick with muscle (and yet, still soft in some places) and very tall. The lights gleamed off his sawed off horns and it sent a shiver through John.

He turned away quickly before anyone noticed him gawking. He headed into a separate room where the boxing ring and punching bags were. After stretching to warm up he squared off with one of the bags and hit it.

It didn’t take long for him to work up a good sweat, and soon he was pushing his bangs out of his eyes using his shirt to wipe off his face. He was about to tug it off completely when he saw, out of the corner of his eye, Malone and two other men. John didn’t know them, but the B.P.R.D. was large and there were agents coming in and out daily along with those like John who lived on site.

He tugged his shirt down and grimaced when the three men approached.

“Agent Myers,” Malone greeted in a fake, cheerful tone, “what a surprise to see you here. We were just talking about you.”

John crossed his arms loosely over his chest. “And?”

“Oh, we were just discussing what kind of man could keep the devil in check,” one of the new men said.

John started. “What is this about?” he demanded. 

“It’s just, let me see, how to phrase this…” Malone hummed as he stepped closer to John, “just what kind of talents do you possess, John?”

The other two men laughed and John frowned in confusion. “Talent? What?”

“Do you give him what he wants?” one teased. “You’re his keeper, right? So you make sure he had food, and he’s taken care of. I bet you take care of him in all kinds of ways.”

The color drained from John’s face and he took a big step back. “You—you can’t possibly be suggesting that I—I—“

“Oh, our mistake,” snickered one of the men, “of course we aren’t.”

“We would never, Agent Myers,” said the other. “Of course you’re just his handler.”

John was mortified. Scarlet covered his face and he turned, leaving the room as quick as he could.

They thought he was Hellboy’s whore. Embarrassment and shame outweighed rage and he passed by the showers, intending to leave quickly, when he saw Hellboy out of the corner of his eye. The demon was standing across the gymnasium, staring very intently at him.

John’s face heated but not for the same reason as earlier when he first walked in. No, now sickness churned in his stomach and he fled the room as fast as he could. But instead of returning to his room he went to the library.

“Abe?” he called. He looked around, checked the tank, but the fishman was gone. Probably for the better, Abe could read emotions and thoughts through touch or just close distance, and he didn’t need anyone else feeling his shame right now.

There was a bathroom in the back and he used it to clean up, but he still felt dirty. Did everyone think that way about him? But they certainly hadn’t treated Clay that way. He had been well-liked and respected. They certainly never accused him of being… of being… 

John closed his eyes and leaned over the sink. He couldn’t deny he had an… attraction to the demon. John didn’t care what he was, it was who he was that John found appealing (or had, before this sudden turn of events that had Hellboy biting his and everyone else’s heads off,) but now…. He shook his head and stepped away.

Hoping that he could avoid everyone and everyone he headed back to his room. He had other work to do, but he felt emotionally drained and just wanted to be alone. So he locked himself in his room, changed into fresh clothes, turned on some music and tried to lose himself in a book. 

_It’ll all blow over,_ he told himself before he drifted off later that evening. He didn’t even get out of bed to switch off the light. He merely slumped forward and fell asleep.

Unfortunately his dreams had other things in mind. He found himself back in Moscow, back in that damned chamber. Only this time he was chained down into the stone slab, naked and exposed, with Hellboy standing over him. His horns had grown back, there was a crown of fire on his head, and his body was covered in the blood of his enemies and friends.

“Red,” John pleaded, “remember who you are! Don’t do this!” Above him tentacles curled through the red sky. The doorway that Hellboy had unlocked with his right hand was still open, and from it various creatures started to come through. John choked. “Hellboy! Red! You can stop this! It’s your choice!”

The demon looked down at him, a horrible sneer on his face. He raised his right hand, and—

John woke with a yelp, sitting up and knocking the old book off the bed. He shielded his eyes from the overhead light while he struggled to catch his breath. He ended up on the floor, head down between his knees, as he fought off spots and darkness and tried to take a deep breath. His heart hammered in his chest so hard he, for a moment, honestly thought he was having a heart attack.

When the panic passed be remained where he was, sitting when his back to the bed, and retrieved the fallen book. Knowing he would never get to sleep now he went back to reading. When the alarm on his phone went off he got up, showered, brushed his teeth and headed for the cafeteria for coffee and to wait for Hellboy’s breakfast.

The cart felt heavier than normal, but John blamed it on being tired, even after two cups of coffee, or maybe because it was oatmeal and that was heavier than eggs and bacon.

With a little huff he stepped into the demon’s lair. Again cats greeted him, but Hellboy was there as well, chewing on a cigar and doing bicep curls with a weight that John couldn’t lift if he tried.

“Breakfast,” he announced tentatively.

The weight hit the ground with a thud that made the cats scatter and John flinch. The demon lumbered over, tail flicking, and glanced at the food. Then his eyes zeroed in on John. He looked tired. His hair was a bit mussed. There were bags under his eyes.

“What’s wrong with ya, Boy Scout?” He grunted.

John’s head snapped up. “What?”

Hellboy gestured to him with his stone hand. “You look like shit.”

John shrugged one shoulder. “Nothing at all.”

Hellboy hated being lied to. His tail snapped. “Lying to me now?”

John paled slightly before regaining some composure. “No. I’ve been working a lot, and it’s early.”

“Still lying,” Hellboy grunted, “and to your partner, no less.”

“Partner,” John laughed, but it was a bitter, humorless sound. “Is that what we are? Because all you do is treat me like an inconvenience. Like you’re pissed off everytime you see me. Is that how partners are?”

The sudden outlash had Hellboy frowning with a low rumble sounding from his chest. John had always been rather reserved and quiet; thoughtful. But this was different. He opened his mouth to ask if it had anything to do with the new agents that been lurking around, but the young agent had already darted out the door.

He rubbed his head.


	2. Coveted

Studying. Training. Meeting. Reading. John felt like he was back in college, but with less time to sleep and slightly better food. Hellboy had gone back to ignoring him for the last two days, but he’d also been… everywhere. John saw him mulling around the hallways, the library, with Abe; everywhere John went it seemed like the demon was there, too.

If John had not still been reeling from being accused of being the demon’s fuck boy, he may have been flattered. But all it did was add fuel to the fire because others noticed too. He noticed quickly that the agents weren’t ones that he had met before, which meant they were new recruits; they had hired so many after losing so many men and women during the battle with Rasputin. These new agents leered at him, watched him, he even found a note slid under his door like they were in third-fucking-grade.

_Devil’s Whore._

Honestly, where did these men come from? They were FBI-trained recruits, right? It just proved to John that no matter what kind of training a person went through, what kind of events, if they were assholes they were always going to be assholes. He ripped the paper up and threw it away. 

John stood, hands clenched into fists, staring at the floor. He should tell someone, he knew this. He should report them. But… it was embarrassing. And who would really believe him? What if they just brushed it off to the side? Or… worse, agreed.

Just thinking of it made his ears hot and his stomach churn. The less people knew about this, the better, he decided. He threw himself into his work, filling notepads with scribbles from books dealing with everything from possession to summoning demons, and taking scans of ancient pages that were too fragile to be handled. Even so, his mind was always someplace else.

And even though Hellboy seemed to stalking him, he still wasn’t talking to him. Stopping in drop off his meals, fill him on meetings that he didn’t attend, informing him of the latest in supernatural activity? Hellboy answered everything with a grunt.

John was just about ready to tear his hair out, and it was in those moments that some asshole from Malone’s group would hiss something at him in the hallway. Like they were in the third-grade. At night when his duties were finished he had hid in his room and tried to sleep, which was coming less and less these days. He tried meditation and yoga, and while those were relaxing, he still wasn’t getting much sleep. 

Instead he lay staring at the ceiling, staring at the wall, staring at his cell phone. Sometimes a shadow would stop outside his door, and when John noticed, he would sit up in surprise. But everytime he went to open the door, the person was gone.

...

John finished a session in the gym and headed for the locker room. He had his own tiny bathroom back in his living quarters, but he had worked up quite a sweat and didn’t feel like walking through the halls wet and smelly. He stripped off his wet clothes and stood under the shower head, letting the hot water wash away sweat and soothing sore muscles. He had pushed himself harder today than usual, needing to work out some of the stress that had been weighing him down.

And maybe if he worked himself half-to-death in the gym he would actually get more than a couple hours of sleep.

John washed and rinsed his hair and was just finishing up when a hand clamped over his wrist.

John turned around, feet slipping, and trying to pull free. “Agent Malone?” he nearly yelled, “what are you doing?”

“This is the only place he didn’t follow you,” the older man said. Like John he was naked, but he didn’t like he had been working out. He wasn’t sweaty or flushed. His deep brown eyes were alight with determination and his entire body was tense. When John’s eyes flickered over him, he saw that the man had an erection.

John ripped free from the man’s grasp. Sickness boiled in his stomach. “Get out of my way,” he ordered.

“I just wonder,” Malone said while ignoring John’s demands, “what it would be like to be with the devil’s whore. I’m sure you’re not all that tight… the demon probably has a huge cock.”

John’s mouth dropped in shock and he paled. “I am _not_ —“ He closed his eyes and tried to regain some composure. He stepped back. “This is highly inappropriate and you’re going to get the fuck out of my wa--” his words were cut off when the other man hit him, knocking him to the shower floor. John, blood running down from his nose, had only a second before hands grabbed him and flipped him over.

“Stop it!” he yelled. A wet body slid against his own, and a large hand tangled in his hair and pressed his cheek against the wet tile floor while the other twisted one arm behind his back. John yelped.

“Come on,” Malone laughed, “it’ll be fun.”

Panic ran through John as the man forced his knees open wide. He tried to twist and buck away, but Malone was bigger. “Get--off!” he yelled as there was pressure against his backside and he—

An ungodly roar thundered through the locker room and suddenly the weight against John’s back was gone and there was a sickening crack and thump from behind him. John twisted onto his back, chest heaving with every breath, staring up at Hellboy who had the unconscious Malone dangling from his grip. The locker room vibrated with the demon’s growl and steam was rising off his skin.

John attempted to scoot away only to have Hellboy’s tail wrap around his ankle. For a moment alarms sounded in his head, before he realized the demon was simply keeping him in place.

“R-Red,” he stammered, “let me go, and put Agent Malone down.” He could hear voices and just wanted to dress before more people show up. But the demon wasn’t listening. “Red? Hellboy!”

Finally the demon dropped the man and turned to look at John, sprawled in the floor. Bruises were forming on his cheek, jaw, and wrist where he had been pinned. His nose had stopped bleeding but there was still blood on his lips. Hellboy showed his teeth and lunged, grabbing John, who yelled again, and took off with him.

How Hellboy managed to get from the locker room to his room without running across another person John didn’t know, but he was eternally grateful because he could come up with no reasonable excuse as to why the demon was carrying him _naked_ through the halls.

Hellboy was still growling as he crossed his room and roughly dumped John in the bed. Before John could grab a blanket to cover himself Hellboy got a full look at everything. He growled again.

“Jesus, Red,” John panted as adrenaline wore off and he started to shiver. He covered himself with a blanket and looked up at the looming demon. 

Hellboy didn’t even flinch when alarms went off outside and the sound of pounding feet reached his door. He glanced over his shoulder as Manning’s voice boomed above the others; per usual it was calling Hellboy a dangerous menace, a freak, a—

John, blanket around himself, got up. “Let me explain.”

“You stay there,” Hellboy insisted with a snarl. “I’ll do it. You’ve been through enough.”

John fell back when Hellboy shoved him, and he watched as Hellboy went out to the hall and started to bellow at the agents and administrator. The words “harassment” and “attempted rape” rung especially loud and made John’s face flush and his heart pound.

The only person Hellboy allowed by him was Abe, and when John saw the blue man he looked away.

“John,” Abe said gently. The young man’s feelings were so easy to read they might as well been broadcasted over his head. The fishman sighed. “Why didn’t you come to me?”

John continued to stare down at the blanket. “I hoped it would all go away, truthfully.”

“Did this man act alone?” Abe asked.

John exhaled. “In the locker room yes but… there were others who…” he stopped and pinched the bridge of his nose. “Shit, I just want to disappear.”

“May I?” Abe asked. When John nodded he placed his hand on the man’s arm. Closing his eyes he saw moments from the past weeks and months. He saw the other harassers, but he saw more, he saw Moscow, Antarctica, the nightmares.

They pulled away from each other at the same time. Abe’s amphibian eyes were wide and unblinking and John was flushed and fidgeting with shame all over again. He refused to look up, even as Abe went to report John’s memory of the incident. Soon after the vault door slammed and locked and it was just him and Hellboy.

“You okay, Boy Scout?” the big red demon asked while approaching the bed slowly. He kept his voice low and gentle, like he did for his cats.

John didn’t even notice Hellboy until the demon sat next to him, jostling the bed. He shrugged. “More embarrassed than anything.”

“Why didn’t you tell me?” 

John snorted. “Tell you what? And when? You haven’t been exactly chatty with me since Manning transferred me back here.”

The big demon fidgeted. “Right…” He looked at Myers, who had picked up one of the cats and was petting it. The blanket exposed his shoulders and back. Hellboy knew he should absolutely not be ogling the young man right now, but he’d seen him naked and wet. It wasn’t an image that was going away.

“I guess I have been kind of an ass lately,” he grunted.

“Is that your version of an apology?” John asked. The orange tabby purred and leaned into his hand. 

Hellboy scratched the back of his head and sighed. “I’m sorry, Myers.”

“Thank you,” John answered. “If you hadn’t come along…”

 _If I hadn’t come along…_ Hellboy tensed as the image flashed through his mind again. If he hadn’t been there, then John would have certainly been raped. He looked at the young human and swallowed hard.

“They won’t hurt anyone ever again,” he said confidently.

John shivered and pulled the blanket up over his shoulders. After a moment he placed the cat on the bed and stood. “I need to go back to my room, HB. For one thing, clothes and for—“

“No,” he grunted. “Manning and his squad are rounding up whoever else may have been involved. It’s too dangerous for you, the obvious target. You stay here.”

“I-I need clothing, Red,” he insisted. Hellboy pushed to his feet and went his closet. John rolled his eyes. Nothing the demon owned would ever fit him.

A massive t-shirt and a pair of shorts flew his way and he nearly dropped the blanket in order to catch them. The shirt was obviously Hellboy’s but the shorts? “Are these… Liz’s?” he asked while wrinkling his nose.

Hellboy shrugged. “She left them. They’re clean. Promise.”

Seeing that he had no other choice, he waited for Hellboy to turn around before he quickly dressed. The t-shirt fit him like a dress, dropping down to his knees and off one shoulder. The shorts were a little snug but better than nothing.

When Hellboy turned around and saw the young man in his clothing, something primal inside him clicked. His tail lashed and he swallowed hard. And when John sat back down on the bed, legs folded and blanket around him, Hellboy felt all the blood in his body rushing South.

_“I’m going, HB. It’s just…. we aren’t meant to be. I know you think that we are, but there is someone else.”_

_“Who? Myers? I sent him away! He’s not the right fit for you Liz, I am.”_

_“It’s not about me, HB. It’s about John.”_

_“What about Boy Scout? I don’t even like the guy!”_

It all clicked now, the puzzle pieces falling into place. He lashed his tail like one of his cats when angry and paced across the room. When he looked back again, John was petting the same cat from before. His hair, usually combed and well-kept was messy and damp. It was a good look for him. If it wasn’t for the bruises and Hellboy would dare say John was… pretty.

No, no he _was_ pretty. He straightened up and took a deep breath. He closed his eyes and flexed his fingers. When he inhaled he realized that John smelled good, too. Before the scent had been pungunt with fear. Now that he was calm he smelled soft and clean. Combined with his looks he was… 

Hellboy had half-a-mind to tell him that he was attractive, but the circumstances were certainly not right. The man had just been assaulted! So instead he said, “I’m going to get us some food. You stay here, ya hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Red,” John answered without looking up. 

…

John honestly did think about sneaking back to his room while Hellboy was gone, but he knew it would be a bad idea. His day had been stressful enough and he didn’t need the demon showing up at the door and breaking it down to yell at him. So instead he made himself as comfortable as he possibly could in such an alien environment. Even though he was in this room several times a day, he had never just… hung out. And he had certainly not ever spent time in Hellboy’s bed. He blushed.

When Hellboy returned about twenty minutes later it was with a cart of assorted foods that he had obviously picked and chosen from in the kitchen and not whatever was scheduled. John was going to scold him for putting the cooks through extra trouble before he realized the assortment was for _him_. He blushed.

John’s stomach chose that moment to rumble. Despite the fright he was still feeling pretty hungry. And no one would hurt him here. He stood and walked barefoot toward the cart. 

“I didn’t know what you wanted,” Hellboy confessed.

“So you got it all?” he asked with a little smirk as he reached for a cheeseburger and a can of soda. 

“Not _all_ ,” he replied gruffly as he grabbed a chicken leg and all but inhaled it. He glanced at John, who was now sitting in Hellboy’s favorite chair, and was laughing softly. When did John laugh last? When had he smiled? He frowned the turned to the food, shoving a cheeseburger in his mouth to give himself time to think.

John meanwhile watched Hellboy as he paced around between bites. He hated what happened earlier, when he thought of it it made him nauseous, but if he could think of one good thing it was that it relieved the tension between the two of them.

For now.

But what would Hellboy do when he found out about John’s real reason for returning? He set down the cheeseburger he had been eating as his stomach turned. Would it ruin what fragile relationship they had right now? 

“Red…” he started to say, “um… there’s something you should know.”

The demon turned around and cocked his head. John looked and smelled awfully nervous suddenly. His head was down, he had stopped eating, and his hands were trembling. Hellboy stepped towards him. “What is it? You can tell me.”

“Manning didn’t… bring me back just to be your liaison,” he explained as he finally looked up, “he wants me to take over for Bruttenholm and be the Bureau’s primary occult specialist.”

When Hellboy didn’t answer, John continued to speak, though his words were rushed. “I swear, I don’t mean any disrespect. The Professor was an amazing man and I can’t ever replace him, and when I was transferred back all I wanted was to work with you again. I swear Red, I didn’t even know.”

Hellboy stepped away, tail lashing, before he found a cigar to chew on. Finally he asked, “Why are you telling me this now?”

“Because I’ve been wanting to tell you,” he muttered, “but you… I couldn’t find the right time.” He stood. “I’ll go if you want.”

“No,” he barked. He rubbed his hand over his sawed-off horns. “I’m going to shower.”

John watched Hellboy stomp away. No longer hungry he instead moved to the sofa in the lounge area. He was sure Hellboy would want some space to work out how he felt about this. So he curled up there, and not realizing how tired he was, fell asleep nearly immediately.

…

John woke to the sound of a low rumbling. He frowned, rubbing his eyes and sitting up, only to see that he was back in Hellboy’s bed, with the blankets around him, and the big demon asleep next to him. Hence the low, rumbling sound of his snores. Even though the bed was huge, they were still lying close, very close. John tried to put some space between them, he was sure that Hellboy wouldn’t want him so close, however the demon’s tail was wrapped firmly around his waist and holding him in place.

John sighed and dropped his head back onto the pillow. How did he get here, anyway? Didn’t he fall asleep on the couch? Did Hellboy place him here? Or did he sleepwalk? John let his eyes close and for a moment, he was standing on a hell-plane, tentacles in the sky, chains wrapped around his legs, with the demon prince standing over him. He reached down with his stone hand, grabbing John by his hair and dragging him forward.

“Red--” he gasped, “Red, don’t do this! _Stop_!”

“I’m not going to hurt you, Boy Scout.”

John’s eyes snapped open and he found himself face-to-face with Hellboy. The demon was awake and leaning over him. His face was pinched in a worried frown and his flesh hand was resting on John’s shoulder. 

“What?” he gasped. He quickly rubbed his eyes. “I was--it was just a nightmare.”

“About me?” Hellboy asked, his voice tight.

“No--I mean, yes, but it was…” he sighed, rolling over and pressed his face into the pillow. “Moscow.”

That made him feel a little bit better. Hellboy dropped his hand from John’s shoulder and laid back down next to him, but his tail remained around his waist. He dared to rub John’s lower back with the tip, in slow, comforting motions. “That kind of trauma stays with you.”

John turned to look at him. “I’m starting to realize that. Sorry I woke you.”

“Don’t worry about it, Myers,” he said. After taking a long shower Hellboy had returned to his lair to find John asleep on the couch. While watching him sleep, Hellboy realized he couldn’t be angry with the young human. It wasn’t John’s fault that Manning wanted him to head up their occult research. And when Hellboy thought about, who else was a better fit? John was respectable, Father had liked him, Abe liked him; did he really want someone else rummaging around his Father’s things? Fuck no. So if it had to be anyone…

 _“I wanted to work with you again.”_ Guilt had dropped into his stomach hard, like a giant stone. So he had moved John to the bed, which was warmer and more comfortable than the couch, and after a bit of uncertainty, joined him. The bed was huge, they could easily sleep together without being real close. Or, that had been the plan. But Hellboy had woken twice to find himself right next to the agent, with his tail wrapped around John’s ankle or waist.

John’s hazel eyes were heavy and he struggling to stay awake. Abe had mentioned in passing that John hadn’t been sleeping, that he had been having nightmares. Hellboy reached out, tucking a lock of hair behind John’s ear. “Get some sleep, will ya?”

“‘M fine,” he mumbled, but when he closed his eyes again, his body relaxed and his breathing was even and quiet. Hellboy watched him for a few minutes before closing his eyes. His tail pulled John closer and when the young human didn’t move away, Hellboy dropped his arm over him and tucked his face into his shoulder.

…

“I never thought you’d be this much of a snuggler,” John said when he woke the next morning. He’d been trying to squirm his way free for the past twenty-minutes, and had given up, so now his only choice was to wake Hellboy in order gain his freedom. His bladder was demanding his attention and he needed to get back to his room and start on his morning routine and more than likely meet with Manning about the incident from the day before.

Hellboy lifted his head in surprise. He blinked down at John, who was staring at him with an amused, soft expression. He leaned off the young human and snapped his tail back to his side. He cleared his throat. “My bad.”

John shrugged and sat up. “I need to go back to my room,” he said, “I have to get ready for my day, and I have work and reports--and I’m sure it’ll be safe.”

Hellboy flicked his tail as he hid his disappointment. “I’ll walk you.”

“I’ll be okay,” he insisted. He just wanted to get there before anyone else saw him in his current wardrobe. Not that he didn’t find Hellboy’s shirt extremely comfortable and warm, and he wondered if he could get away with keeping it, but he needed to shower and get into a suit. He’d never been out of his workplace attire for so long before, and it was starting to bug him. He slipped from the bed. “I’ll be in later with breakfast, okay?”

Hellboy gruffly replied, “Fine. But if anyone tries anything, I’ll fucking kill them.”

“I’m sure that won’t be necessary,” John said. He turned away as his cheeks heated. The fact that Hellboy was so ready to defend him made his heart pound. 

John creeped through the vault door and back to his room. Unlike the day before, when Hellboy had whisked him out of the locker room and to his room, John did see other agents. He just greeted them with a nod and hurried on at a brisk pace. Once he was back in his room he folded the borrowed clothes over the back of his desk chair and then showered. He dressed and grabbed his cell phone from it’s charger on the small nightstand. Sure enough there was a message from Manning. He had a meeting.

In five minutes. John bolted out the door.

…

When John returned to his room that night he was mentally exhausted. He had gone through several meetings, a physical exam and again, had talked to the Bureau’s therapist about the incident. After being cleared for duty he had had another meeting where Manning told him they had tracked down five men who had close associations with Malone. In the end it wasn’t a cult or premeditated, it was simply a group of bullies and sick individuals who should have never had made it as far as they did in the FBI and definitely not to the B.P.R.D. 

John expressed his thanks but deep down knew that a piece of him would never be the same. His trust that deep down people were good had been stained. 

He dropped onto his bed with a huff. Was it strange that it didn’t feel as warm and comfortable as Red’s? That he missed the smell?

He caught up on some reading before he went to bring Hellboy his evening meal. As he pushed the cart into the demon’s lair he was greeted by the familiar chorus of cats.

“Red?” he called.

“Right here,” the demon announced in his usual gruff voice.

John turned just as Hellboy dropped the barbell he’d been lifting. He blushed. “Uhm, here’s your supper. I have to get back to the library. I have some reports to catch up on. Apparently there’s been some weird activity in the Philippines.”

“So you’ll be in Pop’s office?” he asked.

John averted his eyes. “Yeah.”

He grunted and stepped around the young agent, but his tail slid out on its own, grazing Myer’s leg. Both demon and human jumped. “Sorry Boy Scout—“ he quickly apologized as he turned to him, but John didn’t look upset, no, he was _blushing._ Hellboy straightened up. Wait, did John…

John cleared his throat and tugged on his tie nervously before taking a step back. “Um,” he murmured, “I’ll see you later, Red.”

Hellboy watched John quickly retreat, but the soft, delicate scent of arousal didn’t escape the demon’s fine senses. He took a deep breath and felt heat tingling all through his body.

_Well… fuck._

…

Abe Sapien sat on the floor across from John, chin in his palm and large, black eyes focused on the man in front of him. John had come into the office with some very strong feelings, and at first Abe had feared John was still reeling from his trauma. Which, he was, but it wasn’t the case in this moment.

“What are you studying today?” he asked politely.

“Duwendes,” he said with a little stumble with the pronunciation. “Apparently there have been multiple sightings.”

Abe cocked his head. “That’s not unusual.”

“No, but their behavior is,” John said. He scratched the back of his neck and looked at his notes. He looked up at his friend and fidgeted. “Hey… um… Abe.”

“Yes, John?”

“Um, I…” he closed the large book after putting his notes in it to act as a bookmark, “Let’s just say I’ve been… having feelings for someone…”

Abe smiled ever so slightly. “Hellboy?”

John exhaled sharply. “Don’t tell him, okay? I don’t think he’d appreciate it. The only reason he’s being nice to me is because of what happened. I’m sure it’ll all go back to normal soon enough.”

“You don’t really think that, do you?” he asked with a pinched expression.

“Yes,” John deadpanned. “Why wouldn’t I? He blamed me for Liz leaving. He's pissed that Manning brought me back. I mean, honestly…”

“John,” he sighed, “it’s—“

“CODE RED. CODE RED.”

John jumped to his feet. “They’re playing our song.”


	3. Temptation

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hey hey I added chapter titles.

“So what is it?” Hellboy asked as the group gathered in the garage in front of the garbage truck that functioned as their camouflage. He picked up his oversized gun, a 22 mm four-round revolver, The Good Samaritan. He kicked open a large trunk with his foot which held giant, hand-made bullets for the gun. Each set of rounds was handcrafted for different creatures, demons, and monsters. Hellboy lit a cigar as he waited, listening to the chatter of agents and the roar of vehicles.

John, nearby, strapped on his Kevlar and checked his sidearm before holstering it. “Supposedly vampires,” he said, having been briefed by Manning before reporting to the docks with the rest of the team.

Hellboy whipped his tail. “The Count?”

“Vladimir Giurescu?” John asked. “No, but possibly a part of his cult following. They’ve been dropping bodies left and right in Hudson County. A surveyor spotted them returning to their nest just an hour ago. They may have hostages.”

“Anyone they brought back is already dead,” one of the other men said.

Hellboy selected bullets made with silver and holy water. The rest of the team armed themselves with the same, along with wooden stakes and silver knives. John attached a silver-bladed, blessed knife and tucked it in his vest. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Hellboy staring intently at him.

“Piece of cake, right Red?” he asked easily. John felt more at ease. The men around them were agents he knew, he had worked with them and trained with them, they had known Hellboy longer than he had. There were no accusations here, no prying eyes, no whispering or hissing. These men didn’t look twice at him when he talked with Hellboy. They were proper B.P.R.D. agents.

Hellboy grunted and loaded his gun. “Like shooting fish in a barrel, Boy Scout.”

John nodded. “Manning wanted me to remind you to stay out of sight of the public. He said if you make the news again--”

“The news,” the demon grumbled while snapping his tail, “I’ve heard it all before.”

John nodded and pursed his lips. Sure, Hellboy had been told again and again not to be seen, but that never stopped him.

The drive went by quick and soon the group was surrounding the old warehouse building. Outside it looked like every other rundown building along the river: red brick, busted out windows, garbage and newspapers blowing in the wind. Rust colored leaves filled the gutters from nearby trees, stripped for the late autumn. The sky here was clear and the sliver of the moon shined down on them. John took a deep breath.

It would have been a nice night in New Jersey if it hadn’t been for the vampires.

The strike team went to cover the exits as Hellboy, per usual, just punched his way through the barricaded front door. John hated this part. He didn’t follow Hellboy inside, knowing it was too dangerous for him. Instead he circled around the building while pulling the walkie talkie from his belt.

“Red?” he asked, “how’s it going in there?”

“Fucking stinks,” the demon grumbled. There were bits and pieces of bodies in different stages of decay on the ground and the walls were stained with blood which had dried a rusty brown. He growled. “These guys have been here a while. Made themselves right at home.”

John could imagine the gore inside. He wrinkled his nose. “Be careful.”

“Always am, Boy Scout.”

And then the building exploded.

…

Hellboy groaned from where he lay, surrounded by rubble and fire. There was an enormous weight on his right shoulder and arm, and after rubbing the dust from his eyes, he saw that an entire concrete slab had pinned his right arm down at a painful, awkward angle. He frowned and took a quick look around. The explosion had collapsed the three upper floors and but the outer walls were still standing. 

He tried first to pull his arm free, but it was securely wedged. When he simply tried to lift it the rubble didn’t even move; his arm was at such an odd angle that he couldn’t even lift it properly.

“Son of a bitch,” he growled. Blood trickled down his forehead and into his eye. He took a moment to survey his surroundings again. When he reached for his walkie he found that it had been destroyed in the explosion. “Well, fuck.”

Another swear was uttered when he realized his gun was gone. He shifted his hips up enough to free his tail and used it to poke through pieces of rubble, hoping for the familiar touch of metal.

He growled and cursed again and struggled to sit up, which put his shoulder in tremendous pain. “Oh, fuck this.”

“My oh my,” purred a delicate voice, “I caught the big one.”

_Shit._ Hellboy craned his head up as a vampire carefully picked her way toward him. Her hair was cut short and she looked like she had stepped out of a bad S &M movie. “And who the hell are you?”

“My name?” she asked. “You don’t need it. I want to… to taste you…” her face twisted into something harsh and she tilted her head up to show her fangs. 

Hellboy blanched. “You don’t want to do that, honey.”

“I do…” she hissed and cleared the distance between them in one leap and stood over the demon. She hissed at his lashing tail. 

“So you knew I was coming?” he asked, trying to buy time as he reached his left hand through rubble and dirt. His only hopes here were his gun or his back-up. Assuming they didn’t all die in the blast. They should have been outside, covering the exits, and from where Hellboy lay he could see that while the upper floors had caved in, the exterior of the building was mostly intact; though it did appear to be leaning. 

“We knew you would,” she confirmed. “Our scouts saw your scouts. Humans are so predictable. So easy to follow.”

“Looks like you thought of everything,” he grunted. He flexed his right hand and the hunk of concrete shifted. 

The vampire tensed to lunge down at him, and there was a spray of blood. Hellboy frowned as the vampire dropped down next to him, head blown open and brain matter everywhere.

He smirked. “Nice shot, Boy Scout.”

John, panting, stepped up over the mounds of collapsed flooring and walls. There was a cut on his forehead and blood was smeared down his cheek and through his hair, along with a heavy bruise around the gash.

Relief washed over his face when he saw Hellboy. “You’re okay.”

“Takes more than a building to take me down,” Hellboy said with a grin.

“I guess so,” he said. He holstered his gun and stepped around the slab that was pinning the demon down at an angle that had to be painful. He looked around for anything that could help him. “I didn’t see any other vampires. How many were there?”

“More than one,” he grunted. “Hurry up and help me.”

John grabbed a piece of rebar and, jamming it beneath the slab, pushed down with all his strength. Hellboy growled as some of the pressure lifted he managed to straighten his arm and pushed—

John leaped back with a yelp as the slab was suddenly flung to the side and the demon was free. He exhaled and pressed his hand to the cut on his forehead. The world moved slightly.

Hellboy shoved aside cinder blocks and wooden beams until he found his gun. He checked it for damage before turning around. John was pale and the wound on his head looked bad.

Really bad.

He stomped across the rubble to the young human. “You need medical attention.”

“It’s not as good as it looks,” he insisted.

“What?”

“Bad. It’s not as bad.”

“Mm-hm, sure…” Hellboy stopped and turned abruptly. He cocked his head before lifting his gun. “Hope you can still aim.”

John snapped his head up, fighting nausea and the urge to sleep. He lifted his gun and stepped up to the larger demon. Hellboy’s tail wrapped around his wrist.

“I don’t see them,” he hissed. The building was mostly dark, lit only by flickering light bulbs that had survived the explosion and small fires.

“I smell them,” Hellboy said. He shifted his body ever so slightly in front of the young human. His golden eyes scanned the walls and up through the open floors above. A shadow scuttled along the corner, arms and legs moving unnaturally for a humanoid, it was more like an insect, creeping and crawling and growing closer and closer. 

“Fish in a barrel,” he smirked and pulled the trigger. The boom of the Samaritan echoed through the building, covering up the hissing as the vampire as it fell and hit the ground with a crunch. The silver was instant death and the creature lay still.

John saw another shadow and took aim and fired. The first shot missed but the second hit the vampire in the chest. Like Hellboy John had loaded his gun with silver bullets. He wiped the blood out of his eye with a trembling hand before grabbing the flashlight from his belt. He used it to illuminate the shadows as he aimed his gun, looking for moving shadows and gleaming eyes.

Hellboy turned as something moved behind them, then to the left. They stood back-to-back, guns aimed. The demon’s tail was still around his wrist and worked as an anchor. John felt more stable. Then the darkness came to life and there were eyes in the shadows and the air was filled with hisses.

Gunshots echoed through the building along with the shriek of vampires. Unfortunately after the first few gunshots John’s head started to throb like it was in a vice. He wanted to press his hand against his pounding forehead and sit down and possibly cry. But he tried to shake off the pain and lost sight of his target. He turned left and from the right claws sank into his shoulder and jerked him through the air. His gun clattered on the ground.

John’s yelp echoed behind him and Hellboy whirled around in alarm. Standing just feet away the vampire had John held in front of him as a shield and his fangs against his neck.

“Let him go,” Hellboy snarled as he aimed his gun.

“Just shoot it,” John rasped. Teeth pressed against the pulse point in his neck and he winced at the slightest cut from razor sharp fangs.

“He won’t,” the vampire hissed in John’s ear. “He’s protective of you.”

Hellboy’s tail lashed behind him. “He’s expendable like all the rest,” he lied.

The vampire shrugged. “Shoot then,” he prodded. “It’ll kill us both.”

Hellboy’s grip on the gun tightened. “Fuck you.”

“Do it,” the vampire taunted. “Do iiiit.”

Steam started to curl off Hellboy’s skin. One wrong move and the vampire would slit John’s throat with his teeth. He growled. “You have one chance, asshole.”

The vampire tightened his grip and licked up John’s neck. “Anung Un Rama,” the vampire sang. 

John stiffened and Hellboy growled. “That’s not who I am.”

“Why not?” the creature asked. “You have so much untapped power. Certainly somewhere there is a spell to tap it. To syphon all that energy and perhaps even taste it.” He sneered, dragging his teeth along John’s neck. “Show us, Son of the Fallen One.”

“Red—“ John gasped as the vampire tightened his grip, “don’t do it.”

Hellboy frowned as a similar situation flashed through his mind. He snapped his tail. “Not going to work, pal, I ain’t no one’s puppet.”

“No, but you could be a king,” the vampire said. “Let go. Become the demon you were meant to be.”

John could see a fire in the demon’s eyes, the steam curling off his red skin. Hellboy cocked his head and John sucked in a breath. Was it possible? Could he go to the dark side this easily? 

His heart started to pound. And Hellboy, eyes lit with hellfire, met John’s hazel eyes. When the vampire glanced away, the demon winked. John didn’t respond, just shifted his arm ever so slightly...

Hellboy watched as John slowly slid the silver knife from his vest. He grinned, showing his teeth. “I’d rather kill you.”

He leaped while John stabbed the vampire in the thigh. The creature shrieked in pain and shoved John away. Hellboy grabbed the human with his flesh hand, pulling him from danger, while his stone hand punched through the vampire’s chest. Clear through to the other side.

“Shit—“ John gasped as he picked up his gun from where he had dropped it and shot the vampire in the head; just to make sure. Hellboy tossed the remains to the ground and whirled around. For a moment John’s heart stopped and he stepped back.

Hellboy’s eyes were glowing and he was throwing off a lot of heat. He was covered in his enemy’s blood and his own. Sometimes John forgot how much of an imposing figure Hellboy could be. Even without his horns. He looked at his arm, where the heat of Hellboy’s skin had seared his clothing and burned his skin. The area was red and in the shape of a hand. 

“Red?” he asked softly.

Hellboy reached out with his flesh hand, his skin and eyes cooling dramatically, but there was still a lingering threat of fire in his eyes. Hellboy, gingerly touched the cuts on John’s neck, then he lifted his arm, staring at the burn. “You okay, Myers?”

“I’m fine,” he panted nervously, “and you?”

The demon growled softly. His hand slid up through John’s hair and cupped the back of his head. Hellboy cocked his head. Humans were so fragile. Already his own wounds were nearly healed, but John would take days if not weeks until fully healed. He trailed his fingers over John’s face, and cupped his cheek. That same primal urge from yesterday started to pulse through him; an animalistic instinct to mark and possess and mate. Never had he had such feelings towards Liz. It was as if John brought out his inner demon. John was his temptation.

John stared at him, hazel eyes wide, lips slightly parted. 

“Hey, Boy Scout…?”

“—Myers? —do you—ellboy?”

They jumped away from each other and Myers grabbed the walkie from his belt. “Myers,” he answered. Hellboy had turned away and John found himself feeling flustered and pressed his hand over his chest. “I’m with Red. I think… the situation has been taken care of. We’re coming out now. Over.”

Hellboy turned, offering John his hand when he slipped stepping down the slabs of concrete. “How’s your head?”

“Oh, wonderful,” he sighed as it continued to throb. 

Hellboy dropped his arm around the human as they picked their way through the collapsed building. “We’ll be home before you know it.”

The warmth from Hellboy spread through him like a fire. John leaned against him, relying on his strength to steer him through the wreckage, when the ground started to shake. 

“Red—“ John yelped just as Hellboy grabbed him, holding John against his body, using it as a shield as the floor went out. The world rushed by at a sickening speed before they landed in the basement, with chunks of flooring falling around them. Hellboy used his stone hand to divert any pieces before the shaking stopped and the dust settled around them.

John stepped away from Hellboy and craned his head up. “That’s just great,” he muttered.

Hellboy glanced up. “It’s not a problem, Boy Scout.” He grinned confidently and rolled his shoulders. “Easy jump.”

John looked at him warily. “You jump out and you’ll just end up falling through again.”

“So what do we do? Hoof it?”

John pushed his trembling hand through his bloody hair. He really didn’t feel like walking, but he didn’t want to fall through the floor again. “Before we got here I took some photos of the building schematics…” he pulled his phone from his pocket and brought up the photos. “Here. This building connects to the one next door. If we walk this way we can take this tunnel.”

Hellboy frowned worried. John was pale and swaying ever so slightly on his feet. He twitched his tail before stepped up to him. “Fine. We’ll do it your way, but you ain’t walking.”

John gasped when the demon scooped him up. “I can walk—“

“Which way am I going?” h asked as he looked at the phone in John’s hands. 

He looked around before saying, “That way. I’m pretty sure.”

Down here there were no lights and water was gently misting from broken pipes. Hellboy found himself occasionally tromping through several inches of water as they made their way deeper underground. He was tempted to shed his boots and rely on his hooves, they were made for conditions like this, but he boots were custom and he didn’t want to hear anyone yelling at him for losing another pair of shoes. 

John couldn’t see beyond the glow of his cell phone, but he trusted Hellboy to get them through safely. He gave the demon directions when necessary but otherwise he sat quietly. It was cold here and when John started to shiver Hellboy’s tail slid along his hand John found himself holding it and pressing against him for warmth.

“Doing okay, Myers?” the demon asked worriedly.

“I’m just a little tired,” he said. “No big deal. Oh, we’re here.”

Refusing to put John down, Hellboy shifted him in his arms and used his stone hand to punch through the door connecting the tunnel to the other building. Then he was stomping up the stairs to the main level and kicking down the front door. 

It was quite the spectacle outside; fire trucks, police cars, ambulances, and parked off to the side were the Bureau vehicles and the garbage truck. John could heat Manning barking orders to both his own agents and the police.

“You wait here,” John said as he motioned for Hellboy to set him down, “I’ll update Manning and send the truck over.”

Hellboy growled. He hated this. The hiding, the skulking; he wanted to walk out there with John and not have to deal with people staring and yelling and taking his picture. He looked around, expecting news vans and helicopters. “Fine.”

He stood, tail wagging in the cold air, as John limped across the lot to where the B.P.R.D. agents were mingling around. He lost sight of him and soon the truck pulled around. Hellboy slipped in through the back.

He growled. “Where’s Myers?”

“With the Medics,” answered one of the agents. “He’s on his way back to base. He was hurt pretty bad.”

Hellboy grunted. “Let's go then.”

…

John sat up with a start. He pushed off the scratchy, white sterile blanket covering him and frowned when he saw he was still in his dirty clothes, but someone had removed his Kevlar. He rubbed his head as he tried to remember how he got here. He recalled the explosions and the vampires and Hellboy. And then...

His movements had caught the attention of the nurse who made her way over. 

“Agent Myers, how are you feeling?”

“Um,” he started. Honestly he felt in desperate need for a hot shower and something to settle his stomach, but he wanted out of the infirmary as soon as possible, so he answered, “I feel great.”

She hummed and took his pulse and checked his vitals before she felt comfortable releasing him. When John walked out he stopped in surprise, but he supposed be shouldn’t had been.

“Red,” he gaped. “What are you doing?”

The demon, leaning against the far wall with a gruff expression and cigar in his mouth, grunted. “She wouldn’t let me wait inside.”

John felt his face warm. “How long have you been standing there?”

“About twelve hours.”

The shock rocked him. First, he’d been unconscious that long? And then Hellboy had stood here waiting? “Red, _really?_ ”

“I had to be sure,” he said. The demon stepped towards John, who was bandaged, but very pale and bruised. He frowned and tentatively reached out to touch the bruise on John’s face.

“I-I’m fine,” he insisted softly. 

The demon nodded. “Come on.”

John tilted his head. “Where are we going?”

“Back to my room,” he said. “You need some rest and if I leave you alone you’ll just bury your nose in books.”

John opened his mouth to argue but then Hellboy’s tail had his wrist and tugged. “Okay, fine, but I need to stop by my room to shower and change.” He was still in his suit from the night before and he was filthy. 

Hellboy chewed on the cigar rather aggressively before saying, “Fine. But do it fast.”

At his room Hellboy waited outside while John went to shower. He checked over all his injuries (multiple bruises, a burn, cuts and scrapes, and a bruised rib,) before he applied fresh steri-strips to the gash on his forehead and then changed into sweatpants and a tank top. He brushed his hair back, but without hair product it was soft and messy, not neatly combed like he preferred. He shrugged. With the giant black and purple bruise on his face and the bloody gash on his forehead, no one would be looking at his messy hair. He grabbed his cell phone and stepped out the door.

The demon cocked his head. Seeing Myers out of uniform, without his hair neatly combed, was such a different look for him. A look the demon liked. He whipped his tail and turned, walking them back to his room. They passed by ancient artifacts, some held magical powers and others were just relics that Broom had collected. The lights here were low and at the end of the hallway was the massive vault door that was used to keep Hellboy in when needed. He swung it open easily.

Inside John went to sit in the large chair. It wasn’t such a long of walk that he should feel so winded and tired, but he couldn’t stop from leaning back and slouching in the chair. Hellboy hovered over him until John asked, “What?”

“You need to rest.”

“An expert in humans now, are you?”

The big demon shrugged. “Been around them long enough to know when someone needs to rest.”

John sighed. “I’m more hungry than anything—“ he hadn’t the chance to finish the sentence before Hellboy was out the door. John hummed thoughtfully. Was this guilt making the demon act so attentive? Or something else?

He closed his eyes and pulled up the moment in the building. Had it been anyone else, John would have thought Hellboy was about to kiss him. But it wasn’t. It was Hellboy, who was in love with Liz. John was, and had been, nothing but a burden. 

Or so he had thought. Lately…

When Hellboy returned it was with a relatively light batch of food. He had grilled cheese sandwiches and some soup. When John saw it he felt both hungry and slightly nauseous. But he knew he needed to eat.

“This is perfect,” he sighed. “Thanks Red.”

After eating enough to settle his stomach John was content to relax in the chair, but Hellboy had other plans. He ushered John to the bed while muttering that the human needed rest.

“You don’t have to take care of me,” John said as he sat down. “I’ve been hurt plenty times before and always managed to handle it myself.”

“Well,” Hellboy grunted, “you don’t have to. Not today.”

John smiled softly. He twisted his fingers together and said, “Red… if you’re feeling guilty about anything, and that’s why you’re acting so… nice, you don’t have to. I’m fine.”

Hellboy rocked back on his heels. “That’s not why.”

John looked up. “Then why?”

Vulnerable. It was the first thing that came to Hellboy’s mind. He shifted on his feet and tried to come up a reason that didn’t sound too outlandish. “Because,” he blurted out, “I… I care about you.”

John’s face scrunched up in confusion. “What?”

The demon started to pace, and ran his hand over his sawed off horns. “Ya heard me.”

Oh, he had, but he wasn’t sure what it meant. Caring about someone could mean a great many things. A person could care about their grandmother, their pets, and their romantic relationships. 

He was again brought back to the building, the way the demon had touched his face gently, had leaned in close to him. In the moment John’s heart had pounded and he had held his breath. Had Red been about to kiss him? 

_No way,_ he thought with a frown.

John looked up when a shadow covered him. The demon again looked determined, but also uncertain. John sat on the bed, legs folded and head tilted up. When the demon leaned over him, hands coming to rest on either side of him, he didn’t move away. 

“Maybe care isn’t the right word,” Hellboy rumbled. He tilted his head. 

John shrugged and tilted his head up ever so slightly. “Care is… a good word.”

The demon leaned closer while humming. “If we do this, Boy Scout, everything changes.”

“I think it already has.”


	4. Possession

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This was really fun to write and thanks everyone for your comments and kudos :D This was originally supposed to be a PWP and then it ended up having a few chapters and it ended up a short story that honestly, should have been a lot longer. I regret not putting more effort into it, but I couldn't for the life of me come up with an actual plot... so this is what you get. Anyway, I hope you enjoy this last chapter. Things get hot and steamy and sinful REAL fast xoxo

When Hellboy kissed him it was all teeth and tongue. John rocked back, breath sucked from his lungs, as the demon devoured his mouth with the fervor a starving man. Lips, hot and rough, moved against his own and forced John back into submission. The demon’s tongue licked deep into his mouth and pulled a needy whine from John.

He’d never felt so small and powerless in his life. Hellboy maneuvered him onto his back, never breaking contact with his lips or missing a swipe with his tongue. John was moaning softly, his entire body submissive and overwhelmed. Hellboy ran his flesh hand down the human’s chest, soft yet defined from all the time spent in the gym. He grabbed the tank top and leaned up enough rip it away.

John, gasping for breath now that the kiss was over, touched his fingers to his wet lips and tried to access the situation. Which was nearly impossible after the hardest, most dominant, and best kiss of his life. He couldn’t even form a proper word.

The demon, a cocky grin on his face, knelt on the truck-bed and lashed his tail excitedly. “You taste amazing,” he said, voice rough like sandpaper, “I want more.”

John’s heart started to hammer. “Huh?” he asked. He felt slightly dazed and his brain was having problems forming a proper thought. He licked his swollen lips.

Hellboy, weight on his stone hand, slowly pushed his flesh hand up John’s chest. He watched goosebumps spread across the skin and John’s muscles flinch in surprise. “I’m going to devour you.”

John blinked, trying to regain some composure, but all he could do was stammer, “Okay.” He had no idea what he was getting into but he knew that he wanted it. No matter the consequences. He could feel the heat rolling off Hellboy’s skin, and saw the bright fire in his eyes.

The demon mouthed down John’s neck and over his chest. The human beneath him shuddered at the attention, and whenever he nipped John’s pale flesh the human would flinch and gasp. He left a trail of bruises and wet kisses until he stopped to bite at the human’s nipples.

“Aah—“ John panted, followed by a mumble of words Hellboy didn’t catch.

“Like that, Myers?” he asked with a grin.

“Uhm,” he gasped, “y-yeah.”

Hellboy paused and looked up. John was flushed and red, but he was also breathing rather heavy. He placed a kiss on his neck. “How ya doing there?” he asked, genuinely concerned.

John sighed. “I’m okay,” he murmured, “just…a little weak.”

“Well, you just let lay back and let me take care of ya,” he purred.

John laughed softly as some of the weight from the situation lifted. “Just what do you have planned, Red?”

“Gonna defile you all over, Boy Scout,” he answered with a grin.

John gulped. “Just be… be gentle with me, okay? I haven’t done this in a long time and...you’re…”

Red quieted him with a kiss. “No worries, John,” he said. “You’re safe in my hands.” He wondered what John’s past lovers had been like. Why would they have left him? John tasted like sweetness with a side of sin; it roused up his demon-half and Hellboy wanted _more._

Hearing Hellboy say his first name with such affection had a whole new wave of emotions rushing through John. He laid back, shaking with excitement, as the large demon kissed over his chest. Then his hand was touching John’s sweatpants and rubbing over the front and—

“Sh-shit,” he gasped. He hadn’t expected things to go so fast. He hadn’t thought he’d be nearly naked with Hellboy worshipping his body with his teeth and tongue. Hands tried to spread open his legs and for a second, John resisted.

“You okay?” Hellboy asked as he gently pet John’s well-toned calves. He was very close to where he wanted to be, nestled between open legs, but he wasn’t going to force him. He leaned up, realizing maybe this was too fast. John had said it had been a while, and he was hurt. Hellboy gently mouthed his neck.

“Nervous,” he gasped as Hellboy worshipped a particularly tender spot on his neck. “Just… yeah. Nervous.”

“Want to stop?” he asked as he leaned away. 

John covered his face with his hands and took several deep breaths. “No.”

Hellboy smirked. Myers probably thought he was going to get fucked, but Hellboy had other ideas. Right now John was far too fragile for what Hellboy wanted to do. So for now, all he wanted was to make John feel good.

He slid his hands up John’s legs which parted easier this time. He hooked his fingers over the loose waistband of the human’s sweatpants and slowly pulled them off. Hellboy’s lips twitched at the young human’s half-hard cock. When he had saved John from the locker room shower he had seen him fully naked, wet and flushed, but this was better. John was aroused for him, and he was willingly opening himself up. He kissed down the inside of John’s thighs, softening his attentions. “Mm, you look good this way, Myers.”

John, breathing heavy, asked, “What way?”

“Beneath me,” he said with a lewd grin.

John huffed a laugh. He tentatively touched his fingers to Hellboy’s head, grazing them over the sheared horns. The demon leaned up into the touch like one of his cats, a deep purr rumbling in his chest. As John slid his hands through Hellboy’s hair the demon rumbled softly before dropping his head down between his legs. One moment they had eye contact, the next Hellboy had taken John’s cock all the way in his mouth.

“R-Red--!” John choked in shock. His hands clamped down on the demon’s hair and he dropped his head back on the pillow. The demon sucked hard and licked, his tongue hot and rough. 

Hellboy moved his head slowly, licking sloppily and eagerly, amazed by the young human’s taste. He groaned, the sound vibrating through his chest, as he continued to mercilessly suck. When John pulled his hair and dug his short nails into his scalp he groaned. Did John have any idea how much he turned him on?

The fingers on his flesh hand probed John’s ass, slowly touching his entrance. He worked a knuckle over his rim and massaged until he felt John relax. He wet his fingers with saliva before he dared to continue while making a mental note that they needed lube the next time they were together. Which would hopefully be very soon.

When he pressed a finger in John tensed up and his voice caught in a surprised squeak. But Hellboy gently persisted, until he was working one thick red finger in and out. He pulled his head up, lips sticky with saliva and precum, and rumbled, “You’re so tight, John. And I really want to be inside you.” He used his stone hand to shove down his tight trousers and started to stroke himself. He growled at the rough friction and planted kisses along John’s lower stomach.

“You liking that, Myers?” he asked as he continued to pleasure them both.

“Uh,” he gasped, trying to form a cohesive sentence, when all he could do was gasp. He ran a shaking hand through his sweaty hair. Even though the demon had stopping sucking he still had a finger inside him, and when he twisted it—

“Oh!” John moaned sharply, and it was echoed by a softer, more needy _ooh_. He curled his toes into the bedding and arched his back.

“Imagine what it’ll be like when I’m inside you,” the demon taunted as he licked the flushed head of John’s cock. “I’ll ruin you. I’m going to fill you with my seed and make you mine. I can’t wait to spread you open and claim every inch of you…”

Two fingers were moving in him now and Hellboy was teasing his cock with little kisses. John moaned and bucked his hips, body quivering with anticipation. He reached back with one hand to grip the pillow behind his head while the other ran through his sweaty hair. “Red… Please--”

The demon watched John’s body shake, the way his hips rolled, riding the fingers that were moving in and out of him. He was flushed and sweaty and gorgeous. Cum dripped down his cock and Hellboy leaned down to lick it away, which caused John to cry out. He licked his lips before taking John’s cock back into his mouth and roughly pumped his stone hand over his own cock, which was hard and hot and straining with its impending release. He listened as John’s soft moans turned more frantic and sharper, and then he was swearing and his hips shuddering. Cum squirted in Hellboy’s mouth and groaned, licking and sucking sloppily, until John was a withering mess. Only when John’s little cries turned to sobs did Hellboy release his over-sensitive member.

Hellboy stood and gave his large cock a few more rough pumps before he came, hot cum squirting up John’s belly and between his thighs. He grinned at the sight. His mate was covered in his seed and his skin was marked by Hellboy’s teeth and tongue. 

John lay panting, eyes closed, just barely awake. Hellboy leaned over him, kissing him gently. “Get some sleep, Myers.”

It was all the encouragement he needed. He slumped back, warm and relaxed, and fell into a dreamless sleep.

…

John woke hours later, curled up under heavy blankets. A quick glance at his cell phone, which he found under one of many pillows, told him it was around four in the morning. He sighed, dropping the phone, and rolled over.

Not surprisingly Hellboy was asleep just behind him. The big demon was laid out on his back, stone hand resting above his head, and was...yes, naked. John blushed hotly, eyes going immediately to the the demon’s large cock, which was resting flaccid against his thigh. _Holy shit._ He gulped and grabbed the blanket and jerked it over Hellboy’s hips. He rubbed his hand through his hair as he stared at the half-demon’s flat stomach and massive chest, to his wide shoulders and muscled arms. He felt his entire body flush and he covered his face with his hands.

Then he dropped down onto the bed, face still burning and burying it in a pillow. They hadn’t had sex earlier, but the demon’s mouth and hands had been all over him, doing all sorts of devilish things; leaving bruises on his neck and thighs and chest. There was a little ache in his backside but he couldn’t determine if it was from Hellboy’s using his fingers on him or from the previous fight. He was bruised all over and ached even more, and he didn’t know what pain came from what; aside from the gash on his forehead which was definitely starting to throb.

The familiar brush of Hellboy’s tail ran up John’s thigh and he realized with a start that he was naked, too. He reached down to stop the tail from sliding up between his legs, when he realized he was—dirty. He wrinkled his nose at the dried cum on his legs and lower stomach.

“Ugh, Red,” he sighed. He pushed the tail away, tucking it under the blanket he had used to hide the demon’s naked lower half.

He needed to clean up, he couldn’t just lay here now knowing that he was covered in semen. Moving slowly he sat up. Before leaving the bed he lifted his hand and caressed it down the demon’s face, only to have Hellboy turn and kiss his hand.

John jumped in surprise and embarrassment. “Red! I thought…”

The demon grinned up at him and stretched. “I knew the second you woke up,” he said proudly, “I’m not just a pretty face.”

John rolled his eyes but smiled. “Right,” he said as he pulled the sheets around himself.

Hellboy rolled over and looked at the young man thoughtfully. They weren’t mated, they weren’t even dating, and truthfully they hadn’t known each other a long time, but from his start at the B.P.R.D. John had excelled and had gone out of his way to help and he was starting to realize that his Father had been right, John was special. He hadn’t looked twice at Abe, or himself after the initial shock. He had reached out to Liz, knowing what she could do. Now he was in his bed, and had let Hellboy between his legs.

Maybe John did fit in with them. He accepted them easier than many other agents. Father had certainly known what he was doing when he brought him into the Bureau.

The demon grunted. He’d been a lot harder on Myers than he certainly had needed to be. Jealousy and possession had always been his weak points, especially when it had come to Liz. He realized now that he had pushed her away in a desperate need to keep her close. He was tired of being alone. But Liz had still left, even after he had tried to give her everything she wanted, and he didn’t blame her, because she had seen something with him and John that the demon had refused to even acknowledge.

“You know, maybe you do fit in with us freaks,” he hummed as he ran his hand up Myer’s blanket covered thigh.

John laughed. “That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me,” he said before he pushed the blanket off and stood.

Hellboy sat up, rocking the truck bed. “Where you going?”

“To shower,” John said as he stood naked and gesturing to the cum dried and crusty between his legs. “Honestly, Red.”

Hellboy had the decency to blush but he followed it up with a shrug and a grin. “Demons mark their mates.”

“Well, unless you’re willing to clean it up—“ he stopped quick, blushing hotly. “I meant—not like that—“

The demon’s tail wagged. He leaned forward. “Come here and I will,” he said devilishly.

John grabbed his pants from where they had fallen during the night. His face was blushing and when Hellboy looked at him, with desire burning in his amber eyes, John backed up. “Uh—no I’ll shower.” Because he knew if he let the demon do _that_ , then they would be doing more. He may not have normally minded, but right now he was exhausted, and his head was starting to pound. He needed a shower, pain-killers, and more rest. “I’ll come back, promise.”

Behind him the demon grumbled but didn’t move to follow. Myers wanted his space, and so Hellboy gave it to him.

After showering he pulled his sweatpants back on and returned to the bed as promised. Hellboy was sitting up, watching late-night cable reruns, but when he saw John he muted the television. John hesitated a step before he sat on the bed. Hellboy had changed out the dirty sheets with clean ones, thank God, and John laid down gratefully. He pulled the blanket around himself and rested his head in the mound of pillows. He didn’t mean to fall asleep immediately, but that’s just what happened.

Hellboy smiled softly as John passed out the moment his head hit the pillows. Slowly, so he wouldn’t wake the young man, he stretched out next to him. After lying back and getting comfortable, with John tucked up against him, Hellboy turned his attention to the nightly news.

Admittedly he was looking for any news on himself, and of course there were a couple dark, fuzzy photographs from the warehouse incident, and video of the garbage truck. There was also video of John talking to Manning while pressing a towel against his bleeding forehead before he was ushered over to the Bureau’s medical team. The reporter talked about the explosion, the supposable cover-up by the FBI, and showed a series of photographs of missing persons. But they didn’t even take the time to talk about him.

He sighed. Someday he would be out in the world.

…

“ATTENTION! CODE RED. CODE RED.”

John looked up from his pile of books with an irritated sigh. After a week of recoup (at Hellboy and Abe’s insistence) John was finally back to a relatively normal routine. He still had headaches but it was nothing an aspirin couldn’t take care of, and while the wound on his forehead was healing up it looked like the bruises on his thighs and collarbone were never going away, thanks to Hellboy.

And just _what_ was going on between him and Hellboy? They were fooling around almost every night but not fucking, they weren’t exactly dating because their relationship was limited to the Bureau (specifically Hellboy’s room and sometimes the library) and “going out” was nearly impossible. John was still acting as Hellboy’s liaison which meant there had been a few arguments about going out.

Specifically because Hellboy had to remain a secret (more appropriately an urban legend, there were photographs of him and even comic books) and it was John’s job to try to keep him out of the public eye, and Manning’s job to cover it up if when he inevitably ended up photographed.

John closed the book and stood. He had been studying in his room because every time he was around Abe, the fish-man would blush. Even without touching him Abe was reading his emotions, and every time he blushed, John would blush, because he would imagine what Abe was feeling or, god forbid, seeing.

Was he seeing yesterday morning when Hellboy had showered with him and used his tail to taunt him by either wrapping it around his cock or sliding up his ass until John had begged the demon to let him cum? Or the other night when the demon had simply said he “wanted something sweet to eat” and had laid down and pulled John onto his face and had done things with his tongue that had John moaning so much he’d gone hoarse? Or when John had swallowed his fears and finally knelt between the demon’s powerful legs and given him a blowjob?

“Now is not the time,” he said to himself as he stood and tried to shake off the memories. This was serious, and he had to be focused. He grabbed his phone and his sidearm and headed for the war room for a debriefing on whatever creature had triggered the alarm.

…

“Red, you’ve been pacing for an hour. What is wrong?”

Abe knew something was bothering his friend, but Hellboy had always been a hard read. Was it because he was half-demon? Or because he was so stubborn? He didn’t know, but he knew his friend well enough to know when he was being bothered.

Also, the pacing and smoking and drinking was a sign. Abe shook his head. “Red,” he said again, a bit more insistent.

The demon stopped and growled, running his hand over his horns. “I want him, Blue. Real bad.”

“From the feelings I’ve read off John all week, I’d say he wants you, too,” Abe said with a blush.

“This is… different,” he growled. “What if I hurt him?”

“You haven’t yet,” Abe pointed out as he picked up an book and flipped through it. “And you never hurt Liz.”

“This is different, I said that,” Hellboy grunted. He dropped the empty beer bottle in the trash can, much to Abe’s chagrin. “I want to…claim him. I want to make him _mine_. But I’m afraid that I’ll lose control. I burned him, Abe, in that building.”

“A superficial injury,” Abe pointed out, “it’s already gone.”

“I could kill him,” he murmured while looking at his stone hand.

Abe hummed. “You could. But you won’t. John trusts you. He likes your company, even the more ridiculous conversations you’ve had, and he enjoys your... relationships.”

“He more than enjoys it,” Red said with a smirk.

Abe blushed and waved his hands. “Yes, yes, I know. He is very difficult to not read.” With a little sigh Abe continued, “You’re both adults, and John knows you well enough to know what you can do. If he wants this then continued to court him, Red.”

Red exhaled a stream of smoke before pinching out the cigar just as the alarms went off. He looked up, adrenaline rushing through him. “Just what I need,” he said with a grin, “a good fight.”

…

When Hellboy reached the loading dock he saw that Abe was there, tediously applying his respirator, and John was nearby with a group of agents. He flicked his tail. He wanted to go over there, interact with him in any manner, but they had agreed to keep the relationship a secret for now. Not that Hellboy blamed John. He may have been offended but it wasn’t about how Hellboy looked or who he was. It was that John was still shaken from his incident with Malone.

He stomped over to the trunk where he kept his weapons and ammunition. When John appeared next to him he asked, “What is it this time?”

“Not sure,” John said. “Reports are coming in that they found the remains of four missing men under a bridge. There were large footprints in the mud, humanoid. And uh, a few dead cats.”

Hellboy growled. “Sounds like a goddamn troll.” He hated trolls.

John ran his hand through his hair. “What kills a troll?”

Hellboy raised his right hand and grinned. “This.”

John couldn’t stop a smile from forming before he said, “Don’t get cocky.”

The group loaded up in various vehicles, the obvious exception this time that instead of riding in the front of the garbage truck, John was in the back with Red and Abe.

“Look, Myers,” Hellboy said as he loaded his gun with homemade bullets filled with white oak and silver shavings, “if this is a troll, I want you to steer clear.”

John, who had been looking through a book on the fantastical, looked up. “What? Why?”

“Trolls are big. They’re ugly. And they like to eat humans,” he said as he stood over the him. He and John may not have mated yet, but Hellboy saw him _as_ his. He couldn’t let anything happen to him. 

Abe hummed. He wondered what creature would be stupid enough to attack a demon’s mate. John smelled so heavily of Hellboy that it was impossible to miss. 

John looked down at the book, which was open to a chapter on trolls. The creature was straight out of Lord of the Rings: hulking and wide; very ugly with a large mouth and sharp teeth. He nodded. “I’ll stay back, but as soon as you need me, I’ll be there to help.”

Hellboy leaned in, lips pressed against John’s ear. It was a sweet gesture, but more important, one last touch to mark John with his scent. The truck rocked to a stop and the trio exited from the back. It was dark, the sky covered in heavy clouds pregnant with rain. The ground was wet and the entire area smelled of mud, mold, and the dirty river that was rushing beneath the old bridge. John stayed with the other agents, brow furrowed in worry, as Hellboy and Abe carefully made their way down the slope from the highway and into the mud beneath the bridge.

He didn’t like waiting. John knew that what they dealt with was dangerous, more dangerous for a mere human to take on, but that didn’t mean he liked Hellboy and Abe going off on their own. 

He looked up as a soft drizzle started to fall, and then a heavy sheet of cold rain. Around him other men opened umbrellas or waited in the Bureau's cliche unmarked black cars, but John stood at the edge of the highway, looking down where the two had gone. It was too quiet. Where was the troll? Where was Hellboy? And Abe--

A splash in the water told John that Abe was in the river. He felt bad for him, this river was muddy and polluted, definitely not the clean, filtered water he was provided with at the Bureau. He made a mental note to make sure Abe was probably cared for after this mission. The fishman didn’t deserve to wallow around in sewage waters--

“Myers?”

John jumped when his communicator went off. He lifted it to his mouth. “What’s up, Red?”

“There’s nothing down here,” the demon continued. “Just more bones, and some old footprints.”

John raised his hand to shield his face from the rain. His hair was plastered to his head and the water was running down under his Kevlar and suit jacket and wetting his back. He shivered. “So what does that mean?”

“It found another bridge or… fuck.”

“Red?” John asked. He turned on his heel, a creeping feeling crawling up his spine, just as a shadow that had been lurking against the hillside that bordered the highway, moved. He jumped. “Red! It’s up here!” He grabbed his gun and aimed at the massive shadow as it lumbered forward and rammed one of the cars off the highway and down the hill toward the river. John prayed no one was in it as it hit the water.

The loud pop, pop, pop of gunfire filled the air, along with the troll’s angry roar. When it stepped into the headlights of a car John saw that the bullets weren’t even drawing blood, they were just pissing it off. The creature hit another car, causing it to bounce across the highway and into a group of men.

John swore and raised his gun, knowing it wouldn’t do much good, but needing to help in anyway he could. He aimed for the head and fired.

The troll whipped around with a shriek as blood leaked from it’s eye socket. It’s remaining eye, a dirty red in color, locked onto John. The creature snarled and charged forward.

“Shit--” John fired off the rest of the clip, but he troll didn’t stop until it slammed into John. He landed back with a gasp, the breath forced from his lungs on impact, and lay in the rain, staring up. The troll stood over him, teeth bared and eye locked onto him. 

John reached for his communicator, but the troll grabbed his arm and jerked him off the ground.

It leaned in close, but instead of biting him, it sniffed him. John tried to twist out of its grasp. The troll’s breath was horrible and he gagged. But the creature jerked him closer and sniffed up his neck.

 _It smells Hellboy_ , he realized. He stilled and let the troll continue to sniff him. Then, with a snarl of distaste, it shoved him away.

“Smart move,” Hellboy growled from behind the troll, before grabbing it by its arm and jerking it away. He stole a glance at John, pale and shaken, but unharmed, and leaped after the troll.

John reloaded his revolver while he watched Hellboy and the troll fight. The troll was bigger than Hellboy, but the demon more agile. John raised his weapon, waiting for the right moment, knowing that the troll’s eyes were vulnerable. When the monster picked up Hellboy and threw him down into the river, John fired, hitting it in the forehead, mouth, and just shy of it’s remaining eye.

The troll roared in anger and whirled around to John. 

“Shit!” He turned and ran down the muddy bank toward the river. The ground shook behind him as the troll pursued, snarling loudly. He ran under the bridge and jumped over a pile of human bones. He backed himself up to the river’s edge, up to his ankles in mud, as the troll slowly stalked forward.

The monster rumbled something in a language John didn’t understand. He raised his gun, knowing he was out of bullets, but the troll hesitated anyway, staring at him with its one good eye. It growled and dug its feet into the mud, like a bull ready to charge.

Behind it, John saw Hellboy climbing out of the river. The demon looked his way and hissed, lurching to his feet. Hellboy ripped off his trenchcoat and started to run. The troll glanced between them, and leaped at John.

John jumped to the side, just dodging the troll’s hand, as Hellboy caught up from behind. Hellboy slammed his stone hand down on the troll’s head and--

John turned away, stomach turning, as blood and brain matter splattered. He stepped out from under the bridge and back into the rain, letting it wash away mud and blood. He wrapped his arms around himself, watching as Hellboy finished ripping the troll’s head to pieces, and then turned to him.

His yellow eyes were bright and his skin was a blazing, excited red. John blushed. “Red?”

“Any of that your blood?” the demon asked in a low rumble.

“No, it didn’t hurt me,” he said between chattering teeth. He looked up the steep bank where he could hear agents yelling and see beams from flashlights. He raised his communicator, “All clear. Red took it out.”

Hellboy growled. He stomped over to John and leaned down to look at him. He smelled like troll and mud and rain. Hellboy didn’t like that at all. The human needed to smell like _him_ , not some man-eating monster. He whipped his tail before he ushered John around the corpse of the troll and back to the muddy bank. From the river popped Abe, he had been pulling agents from the car that had been thrown into the river.

Together they helped the injured men up to the cars and then the containment vehicle pulled into to gather the remains of the troll and any human bones that had been hidden in the mud. John stepped into the back of the garbage truck and jerked off his vest and his suit jacket. 

“I used to love the rain,” he muttered as Abe joined him. The Ichthyo sapien was as wet and muddy as himself, and looking a little grey from the filthy water. John stood up and grabbed a bucket and filled it with warm water from the sink and motioned for Abe to sit. He helped wipe him down and clean his gills. Abe sighed and thanked John.

The truck shook as Hellboy joined them. His yellow eyes scanned over his teammates. John was okay, Abe was okay. No one had died. There were only minor injuries. Three vehicles had been totalled. The mission had been a damn success. 

And he wanted to celebrate.

The drive back was quiet. John sat with his tablet, filling out his report, with Hellboy’s arm around him for warmth. The demon was acting especially affection, tail rubbing his thigh and his back, lips brushing against his neck and ear.

At the Bureau, John went to fill Manning it on the mission and then went back to his room for a shower and to change into clean clothing. It was almost four in the morning but he wasn’t feeling tired in the least. He pulled on his clothes and left his room, heading for Hellboy’s.

He let himself in and looked around. He saw Hellboy standing by one of the many televisions, watching a news report. John closed the vault door behind him and leaned back against it. “Red?”

The demon turned and looked at him. He said, “That was close tonight. That troll could have killed you.”

John nodded. “I think he would have, but he smelled you on me.”

“Hm,” he hummed as he slowly walked toward the smaller man. He wagged his tail. “I guess I’m good for something.”

John shook his head, a smile on his lips. “Maybe we should have you scent mark everyone in the Bureau.”

“Oh, willing to just share me out like that?”

John blushed. He tilted his head up as Hellboy stopped in front of him. Power and dominance radiated off him. Like John, he had taken the time to shower and was fresh and clean, wearing only pants, which, John quickly noted, did nothing to hide the demon’s cock which was hard against the old, faded fabric. John swallowed hard, eyes staring at the bulge, before he focused them on Hellboy’s massive chest. “Absolutely not,” he whispered.

Pushing up on his toes John kissed at Hellboy’s chin and jaw. The act of submission had Hellboy hot and hard in two seconds and he swept John up in his arms and pressed him against the vault door. He devoured his mouth with a rumbling growl. John’s lips, soft and pliable, eagerly parted for the demon’s deep kisses. 

He ran his hands over Hellboy’s wide, red chest, digging his nails into hot skin and hard muscle. The demon’s hand’s easy gripped his waist and John wrapped his legs around him in order to ground down on the large cock which was now fully hard and straining against the material of his pants. He let out a little moan.

The sound of ripping clothing filled the room as Hellboy tore them from John and let the remains trail them in the floor as they walked to the bed. Hellboy sat down, John fully naked on his lap and sitting on his cloth-clad erection.

John’s toes curled and he gasped. With his knees on the bed and his hands on Hellboy’s massive biceps he slowly ground down, rubbing his ass over the demon’s erection. Even though they were separated by the demon’s pants John could still feel the bulging veins, heat, and wetness as precum leaked from the swollen crown.

Remembering having the large cock in his mouth made him moan, because he was sure it was going to be up his ass tonight.

“Damn it, John,” Hellboy rumbled as he watched the pretty body writhe in his lap. “I’m going to fuck you tonight.” He had acquired an order of lubricant, which had been fun to order, but seeing Manning’s face had been quite the treat. Hellboy hadn’t told them it was for John, but had fun explaining other ways he wanted to use it.

So now he grabbed the bottle, twisting off the top with his teeth and wet his flesh fingers. He mouthed at John’s neck as he slid his hand around to John’s ass and started to rub.

John stilled and spread his thighs wide, knees digging into the bed, as Hellboy’s thick fingers gently prepped him. John sat quietly, little shivers rushing through his body, wincing whenever Hellboy pushed his fingers in deeper. John had been apprehensive about this at first, but the more the two of them had spent together, naked and touching and learning each other’s bodies, the more comfortable he had become. It had been the demon who had really held back, and John had an idea why, so he had never pushed. He knew they would cross the line when ready.

Now that it appeared to be happening, John felt his stomach clench nervously. Hellboy’s cock was big and John knew after having his mouth on it that it was a weapon of mass destruction itself. That being said, the demon hadn’t forced him to do anything he couldn’t handle. He had been gentle, petting John’s hair and calling him sweet names, while he had knelt between the demon’s legs.

Hellboy kissed down John’s neck as he worked two large fingers in and out sloppily, stopping only to add more lube. He could feel John shaking in his lap. “Not hurting you, am I?”

“No,” John panted. His hands slid down between their bodies and pulled down the waistband of Red’s pants to free his erection which was now between their bodies. It sprang free and against his own erection and pressed into his stomach. He wrapped his fingers around it, causing Hellboy to groan. As Red worked his fingers in and out, eventually adding a third, John shifted, lifting his hips in an attempt to spread his legs more. He leaned his forehead against the demon’s chest and panted, open-mouth and loud.

Hellboy patted John’s ass appreciatively as he withdrew his fingers. He mouthed up his neck to kiss his cheek. “Ready, Boy Scout?”

John closed his eyes as he tried to gather his thoughts. Per usual Hellboy made him speechless and he could only nod and kiss the demon’s neck and mouth. Hellboy’s tongue shoved past his lips, rocking him back, and John moaned. He was aching, inside and out, and needed more. “Yes,” he finally whined, “please.”

“Please what?” The demon asked with a grin.

John squeezed the large cock that was leaking cum against his stomach, “Please fuck me.”

Hellboy grazed his fingers over John’s ass. “Here?”

“Don’t tease me now,” he gasped as he rubbed back. “Please, Red.”

“Sorry,” he said with absolutely no remorse. He closed his hands around John’s waist, always amazed at how his large hands easily circled it, and lifted him. After applying a thick coating of lube over his erection he lowered John and started to push into him.

Hellboy saw stars. John’s hole was slick and ripe and eager to be mated. He was so fucking tight yet and so he took care with every inch. “Mm, John…”

“Oooh, god,” John gasped. It hurt and there was no getting around it. Hellboy had a big cock, and John hadn’t had sex since college. He whimpered, dropping his face into the crook of the demon’s neck, muffling his gasps as he struggled to breathe.

Hellboy purred softly as he kissed John’s neck. He could feel the human’s quickened pulse and the way his body trembled had him worried. “Tell me if it’s too much for ya.”

“No,” he panted as his body stretched to accept the demon’s girth “its… its okay.”

Hellboy, gripping John’s waist, didn’t stop pushing until he was in all the way and John was sitting in his lap. Both were panting and sweating. Hellboy had never been inside someone so hot and tight, and yet, fit him so utterly perfect. He laughed roughly, hand caressing John’s ass and squeezing it.

“How do I feel?” He asked.

John raised his head and contemplated his answer. Now that they were fully bonded the pain was ebbing and John was starting to really feel the cock inside him. It was warm and hard, and filled him in a way he never imagined. When it twitched inside he choked in surprise. And when he wiggled he felt a sharp shock of pleasure.

“Big,” he gasped.

The demon chuckled. He leaned in, kissing at John’s neck where he knew he liked it, while his flesh hand massaged his lower back and ass. “I told you,” he said, “going to open you up and make you mine.”

Tears slipped down John’s face and he pressed against the demon’s wide chest. He needed them to move, he was burning up inside and needed release. If Hellboy was going to just tease him, the he would take control.

John shifted his weight on his knees and slowly raised his hips, before dropping down. Pleasure sparked through him and he choked on a cry. “God,” he moaned as he did it against. The wet, sloppy sound of their bodies smacking together filled the space between them. 

At first Hellboy watched, captivated. John’s face was scrunched in concentration and pleasure as he fucked himself up and down. He couldn’t quite raise up enough for Hellboy’s cock to completely leave his body before he was slamming back down.

“Look at you,” the demon growled, “you're all wet for me.”

Grabbing John’s waist again he helped move him and started to pound up into him. They moved together, the sound of heavy breathing, sharp moans and skin slapping together filled the large room Hellboy called home. 

It didn’t take long for John to lose his stamina and for his muscles to burn from the workout, and when he lost some momentum Hellboy gently laid back and rolled them, trapping John beneath him without breaking rhythm. John’s face was flushed and wet from sobbing. 

“How’s it feel?” The demon asked in a gravelly voice. John’s response was a cry, so he stopped thrusting. All outer indicators told him John was enjoying it, but he had to know. The thought of bringing his mate pain… “John. Hanging in there?”

The abrupt stop and gentle tone from Hellboy helped clear John’s sex-crazed brain. He laid back, legs open wide and arms weak from the harsh grip they had held on the demon’s shoulders. He blinked his eyes clear and sniffled. “Yeah,” he gasped, voice hoarse. 

Sweat dripped off the tip of Hellboy’s nose as he rocked in and out slowly, watching John as he melted beneath him, moaning and crying. The truck bed started to shake with the movement. Beneath him John had closed his eyes and was hanging on for the ride. Fuck, he’s beautiful.

“Please,” John moaned. He arched his back, aching, as pleasure built and built, ready for release, but just needing a little push. He was about to grab himself when he felt the demon’s tail between their bodies and gripping him—

“Ah! RED—“ he moaned as he came, and crushed himself against Red. His body shuddered and when Red came not a moment later, John felt like he had orgasmed all over again. Hot cum filled him, dribbled back out and wet his thighs and the bed with every disjointed, sloppy thrust. Red pounded into him roughly, rocking the bed, startling the cats. John gasped as pleasure ripped with every aggressive thrust, until he was a shaking mess; tears running down his face and his entire body trembling.

Hellboy’s hips stopped abruptly and he remained motionless. His eyes were closed and his heart was hammering in his chest. No doubt that that had been the hardest orgasm of his life. And he didn't remember ever producing so much seed, but John’s body had milked it out of him. Even now his cock was twitching inside John’s tight sheath, shooting out streams of seed. When John would clench his muscles it just drew more out of him.

“Red?” John asked, his voice hoarse. He was exhausted but pleasure was still circulating through him, almost to the point of pain. He squeezed his eyes shut.

Hellboy opened his eyes. Beneath him his mate was flushed and sweaty; glowing and satisfied. He didn’t answer, only moved slowly to detach them and then rested over the human while brushing kisses over his quivering flesh. 

John leaned into the sweet attentions and relaxed. Slowly he caught his breath and his heart returned to a normal beat. By this time Red has kissed every inch of him and had gone down between his legs to clean him.

John gasped at the slow, lazy strokes of the demon’s tongue. “Damn it,” he moaned, “I’m too tired to that again.”

He laughed and kissed up John’s stomach until he simply laid next to him. “Sorry, Boy Scout,” he said with absolutely no actual regret and not bothering to hide a smile.

John laughed softly. “Liar.” He attempted to sit up, but paled in pain. His lower back was starting to ache and he definitely did not want to move. He looked at Hellboy, who got the message and scooped John into his arms and rolled them away from the soiled sheets and cuddled him. Hellboy gently massaged his flesh hand up and down John’s lower back and over his ass. 

“You’re gonna be sore in the morning,” Hellboy said with a little chuckle.

“Already am,” John said sleepily. “But… that’s okay.”

He kissed at John’s neck. “So we can do it again?”

John snorted a little laugh. He was drifting off and it took a second for him to answer, “Sure. Maybe next week.”

“What? Next week?” Hellboy repeated, aghast. 

Next to him John muffled his laugh into the pillow before relaxing. Hellboy pulled a clean blanket over the two of them and looked lovingly at John, who had fallen asleep. If he could spend every night this way he would be happy. And someday, maybe he would even take John out on a real date. They could walk together along the beach or the river, and not while in the pursuit of a troll. And if anyone looked at them wrongly, or said a fowl word about John, well, he’d just punch them.

John deserved that much. Fuck, he deserved it. He’d defeated demons, monsters, hell he’d stopped a couple of apocalypses. Was it so much to ask that he be allowed to walk outside without Manning running after him making up excuses? 

The demon sighed and curled his tail around John’s slender waist before settling down in the bed. 

Someday.


End file.
